Go Figure
by RoseWriter112
Summary: After moving from Miami to New York, Katara wonders whether she likes her new surroundings. Though many things changed, one thing has stayed the same. Her love for Figure skating! Can she make it in a new school and a new rink before the Regionals come?
1. New Rink

_Go Figure_

_Chapter One_

_New Rink_

I walked into Twin Oak Ice Rink and breathed in the fresh smell of bleach and paint.

I'm used to it, though, I've been figure-skating since I was seven-years-old. I'm fifteen now, but nothing has changed. As I brushed brown hair from my face, I sat my bag on one of the bleachers. I remembered when we moved here, to New York. I didn't want to leave my old friends, but I was willing to make a change, at least one change, since my mother had died.

I patted down my blue skating dress and sat. I then noticed the sound of blades hitting the ice, I looked up, and there was Toph Beifong! I had heard of her before, in a magazine, but I never imagined that I would see her in real life!

I grabbed my bag and ran down to the ice to take a better look at her. My eyes watched as she did a perfect Camel-Spin (Something I can't do!) and bring herself in to perform a flip jump. Amazing! I gasped as she flew into a Sit-spin.

"Wow!" I said. I guess that I caught her off-guard, because in the middle of her spin, she fell and slid on her butt.

"Aurgh!" She picked herself up, and then turned to me. "Who are you?"

"Uh, I'm Katara Whiteman…"

Toph skated over to me. "Well, Katara, you just made me screw up my spin,"

"I'm sorry, but you're just so amazing!" I saw her roll her eyes. "And, you're blind, aren't you?" I didn't want to be rude but the question just slipped out.

"Yeah, and that's why I never saw you coming," She blew at the thick black bangs that almost covered her eyes. She sat down beside me, "So what are you after?!"

"After?" I repeated. What was she talking about?

She rolled her eyes again. "Who sent you to come and spy on me?! Who do you work for?!"

"Nobody sent me!" I protested. "I just moved here!"

"Oh! Okay!" She said.

Then she started going through my bag. She _is_ rude, isn't she?

"Hey!" I snatched up my bag. "What is wrong with you?!"

She stood up. "Why are you here?!"

I stood (I was taller than her!), "To skate! I'm not a spy!"

"How can I trust you?" She turned away from me.

"I never asked you to!" I threw my bag down, sat down also, and began rifling through it for my skates.

I looked up to see Toph grinning over me. "You got attitude, you know?" She leaned in to my face. "I'm Toph Beifong,"

"I know!" I was still pretty mad at her.

"Of course you do!" She flashed me a smile, got back on the ice, and continued skating.

She is so weird. I had found my skates, put them on, and began tying the laces. My skates were brand new and sparkling white, I cleaned them everyday since I had bought them last week. I looked to Toph again; her skates were green, to match her dress. They looked super expensive. With a heavy sigh I stood, and carefully walked toward Toph.

I felt a rush of excitement as I stepped onto the slippery ice. I quickly did a Layback spin to test out the unfamiliar quality. After finishing my spin I heard applause, but it wasn't from Toph.

I turned around to see a girl dressed in red with her black hair in two buns. She rolled her eyes as she dropped her things onto the ground. "That was pretty nice, for an amateur!"

Then Toph just burst with laughter.

I drooped my shoulders. "Is everyone here so mean?" I was beginning to reconsider my appreciation for my father when we moved here to New York.

"It was a joke," The strange girl continued walking. "Live through it."

Toph was finally recovering from laughing. "That's Mai; she runs the snack bar here."

Mai took a bow. "So, who are you?" She opened a door and disappeared behind it.

"I'm Katara Whiteman, I moved here from Florida!" I called to wherever Mai had gone. Shortly after she reappeared behind the snack bar counter.

"Well, welcome to the big city," Mai grinned. "Everyone here is mean," She turned away from me, signaling that our conversation was over.

Toph began to practice backwards cross-overs. "So, you up for the Regionals?" She asked.

The Regionals! I had forgotten! How come right before the most important skating competition in my life I move to the region of the best skater I have ever seen since Tonya Harding?!

"They say Toph's a shoo-in for First Place…" Mai pipes up. "But I've never seen you before,"

"Yeah, sugar queen; let's see what you've got!" Toph barks.

Sugar queen? "Oh alright," I say. I begin skating around to pace myself; finally I start with my favorite spin of all, a Camel Spin, and then come out into a backwards Spiral. I take a deep breathe, then, a double Toe-loop.

More applause as I come into a finish. But it wasn't Toph or Mai. I looked up, and there are three girls standing there giving me hateful looks. It wasn't them clapping, it was the woman standing behind them. Is everyone in New York so late?

"Very impressive!" The woman began to walk past the bleachers to me, with the three girls trailing. "How long have you been doing doubles?"

"About a year," The three girls finally took there eyes off of me to smooth there expensive skating dresses.

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Patricia, call me Trish," She turned to the girls behind her. "And these are Azula, Tylee, and On Ji."

Once they made there way down, Ms. Trish skated past me, along with Tylee and On Ji, but Azula stopped before passing. She stuck her hand out to me.

"Azula Hamill, pleasure to meet you." I shook her hand as she introduced herself; her fingernails were painted blood red, to match her dress.

"The Regional Competition is coming up, girls, from here on we have to work our hardest and dedicate our time to the rink. We'll start putting together your routines in about a week-and-a-half." Trish said to us.

She skated across the ice as if not even thinking about it. "We'll begin this lesson with practicing a simple Killian step sequence."

Pardon?

"Does anyone know what that is?"

"I do," Toph murmured.

"Toph, would you like to show everyone this sequence?" Trish asked.

"No I would not," Toph answered flatly.

Azula gave Toph a smirk. "I would," Then she skated in front of everyone and demonstrated the tricky footwork.

"Correct!" Trish praised as Azula flashed a smile. "The skater first does a forward progressive, followed by the right foot crossing in front to the outside edge and then the left foot is crossed behind to a forward inside edge." She demonstrated the moves Azula had, but slowly as she explained them. "Then, a Choctaw is done: the skater goes from the left forward inside edge to a right back outside edge. He then tucks the left foot behind on a back inside edge, followed by a short right back outside edge, a cross in front to the left back inside edge, and then a step forward to the right forward inside edge."

"Alright, now begin practicing." Trish clapped her hands twice, signaling for us to break off and do as told.

I skated off to a little area I had to myself and tried to reenact what I had just seen. Everything was so different from the way I had been taught back in Miami; everything was different in New York.

I threw myself in to the first set of tricky moves; I didn't get far when I heard Mai yell out, "Right foot crosses first, Katara!"

Great. My first day here and I'm getting yelled at by the snack bar-girl.

"I'm trying!" I yelled back. I tried again crossing my right foot over. _"That makes much more sense!" _Before I knew it Trish was coming over to me and helping me with the moves. She got behind me and positioned my arms.

Before I knew it I was doing the move correctly over and over again. "That's right, girls, arms out and breathe!" Trish directed.

Trish skated back and forth between the other girls and I, saying things like, "Good, breathe, arms out, you're doing great, we'll put that in your routine."

Suddenly, she clapped her hands loudly. "Girls, come, it's time to work on our entrances."

I new perfectly well what an entrance was. It was the set amount of moves between a step sequence and a jump or spin. I wasn't sure I knew that I could perform the moves right.

"Tylee," Trish said. "Could I see your Killian sequence, please?"

Tylee smiled and performed amazing footwork with exaggerated arms, and when she finished, she kept in her end position, waiting for the directions.

"Do you see the way she is holding her arms girls? From her posture, can you tell if she is about to perform a jump or a spin?" Trish asked us.

On Ji's hand shot up into the air. "She's about to do a jump!"

If this was the way Tylee performed her sequences, I thought I would love to see her perform a jump. And I was right. With a nod from Trish, Tylee strode out on her left foot and performed her three-turn. To see her vault into her jump took my breath away. She was so amazing. And in the air she spun one, two, three times! A triple flip! She landed on her right outside leg, wobbled, and then fell.

I was so surprised to here Azula snicker from behind me. Tylee didn't seem to mind, though, she just smiled, picked herself up, and skated back over to where she had been.

Trish turned to us. "From what you have just seen, ladies, what was wrong with the jump Tylee just displayed?"

I raised my hand. "Her posture during the rotation, ma'am, and her shoulder were hunched and her legs were slightly bent."

"Very good Katara!" Trish smiled at me. "Could you come and display a Killian entrance?"

I wanted to say no, like Toph, but I couldn't. I skated in front of everyone and displayed my Killian, did a quick Mohawk turn, and went into a Loop jump. I rotated in the air one, two times. A double Loop. I could've done better, but I didn't say so.

Trish applauded. "That, ladies, is how an entrance is supposed to look. Now practice your Killian entrances, then we'll take a break for lunch."

--

I was sitting on a booth chair in front of the snack bar. I saw Mai come over to me and Toph, who I was sitting next to.

"Hey, Katara," She said. "About this morning…"

"You don't have to apologize, I forgive you." I said while opening my water bottle.

Mai almost laughed. "I wasn't going to apologize, I was going to say that the Layback spin you did today was actually something close to good."

I was embarrassed. "Uh, thanks." I looked into her dark eyes and swore I had seen her before. She looked familiar, like one of those people on TV that you know, but you don't. You know?

"Everything is so different here in New York," I said quietly. "Almost better,"

"Yeah. What part of Florida did you come from anyway?" Toph asked.

"Miami."

The both nodded at each other. "So what made you trade that life for the big city?" Mai asked.

"I was ready for a change," I sipped some more water. "At my old rink, we took things slow. Here, the teaching is fast, but affective."

"Everything is fast here, Sugar queen."

What was with that name?

"Yeah, the only thing that is slow is the traffic on Friday," Mai said. Toph laughed at this, and that's when Azula came trotting over with On Ji and Tylee in tow.

"Speaking of slow, Katara, if you think that Loop today was it, you'd have to get better to be horrible." She and On Ji laughed and strode away with Tylee, and although she laughed too, Tylee didn't seem to get the joke.

"What was that for?" I asked to no one in particular.

Toph rolled her eyes. "Don't mind her, she's the slow one."

I nodded and took my first bite of my sandwhich.

* * *

**A/N: What did you think? Was it any good? Yes/no/maybe? The review button is for judging the story, not me. **


	2. Spiral

_Go Figure_

_Chapter Two_

_Spiral_

I collected my trash and handed it to Toph as she expertly threw them into the trash-can twenty feet away. When done she turned to grin at me, and we accompanied each other back to the ice for more of today's lessons.

"What is a spiral?" Trish asked as we all grouped together on the ice.

"A spiral is an element in figure skating where the skater glides on one foot while raising the free leg above hip level." Azula explained this as if she were talking to three-year-olds.

"Very good." Trish praised. "What is everyone's favorite spiral? That's what I want you to tell me." She scanned her audience for willing particapents. "Katara?" Trish called on me first.

"Charlotte spiral!" I blurted out without thinking. I had seen many skaters perform Charlottes on TV, but I had never tried one.

Trish looked happy. "A Charlotte? Could you demonstrate?"

I nodded timidly and glided out to the center in fear. What if I fell? What if I wobbled? What if I can't get my leg high enough? What if I'm too scared to o it at all? I decided to let go of all the what-ifs and start the exercise. Cautiously I skated forward, picking up enough speed to get me to the other side, then, even slower, I raised my right leg as high as I could and dropped my torso so that I was looking at my supporting leg.

Quicker than I thought I would, I swung back up and put my leg down before I made a fool of myself. There was applause as I finished, but not from Azula.

"Very good, Katara!" The instructor praised. "On Ji?"

On Ji didn't need time to think. "Fan spiral!"

Wow! Fan spiral? That's got to be about the hardest spiral for me. I held my breath as On Ji paced herself by skating around the edges of the ice. Gracefully, she turned herself out, dipped back, and raised her leg incredibly high. I let out my breath in admiration whilst watching On Ji glide across the ice beautifully. I was almost sad when she came to a closing.

"Beautiful, On Ji." Trish voiced everyone's thoughts. "Azula?"

"Spread Eagle." Azula answered flatly. I watched intently as she skated out into a perfect straight-leg spread eagle. I have to admit, I was fairly impressed when she leaned her torso back halfway through it.

"Very nice Azula," Trish said, to which Azula grimaced. "Toph?"

Toph had already begun to skate out. "Biellman." She displayed this as any other skater would have, but what made it so amazing was that she looked as if she wasn't even trying. Like skating was just like breathing to her. That adds an extra burst of life to it somehow.

"Lovely, Toph," It was visible that Trish was amazed. "Tylee?"

"Y-spiral." And so it was that the last skater was Tylee. I had never heard of a Y-spiral so I was immediately interested. Tylee skated in an elegant circle before starting her spiral. Gliding out on one foot, she raised her leg slightly, making me believe that a Y-spiral was just another boring variation of an arabesque, but at the last minute Tylee hoisted her leg even higher, almost behind her head, and caught it with the opposite hand. Now I understand why they call it a Y-spiral; because with your leg up, your body looks as if you were a giant Y, but with Tylee's flexibility she managed to make herself look like letter-I. We all applauded as she came to a nice finishing pose.

"Wonderful." Trish skated backwards past us. "All the spirals you each have chosen are going into your routines." When this was said, the rink erupted with cheers. "Now girls, I want you to come and practice whenever you have free time, because Regionals are only three months away."

We all nodded in agreement, but none of us were really going to spend all our free time here in the rink. We have lives. But then, as I was thinking this, realization dawned on me. _"Yikes! Regionals in three months?" _It seemed impossible, but it was true. And before I knew it, Trish was dismissing us for the day.

I hopped off the ice and headed toward the bleachers with a slight wobble because of my skates. Sitting down, I sighed and began to take off my skates. While doing so I took the time to examine everyone else. On Ji I decided was very beautiful; she had dark brown hair held in a ponytail, golden eyes, and nice bright white skates. I wondered if they were new because they had no apparent scratches or marks. Tylee had nice features; brown hair in two braids, big expressive grey eyes, and a nice small nose. Her dress was pink and purple; the only person in the world who could pull off dressing like a toddler was Tylee. Azula was very scary-looking; eyeliner that pulled away from her golden eyes, slick black hair that fell down her back, and blood red lips, nails, and dress. Toph was nice-looking, I concluded, as I slipped my skates into my bag. She had grey-green eyes and dark hair that called attention to her pale skin.

Before I could react, Toph had grabbed my bag and was now hauling me through the bleachers. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"Locker room." She answered.

The locker room was more than its name. It did have too many lockers for its residents, but it also contained showers and bathrooms too. "Wow…" I said when we entered.

"Wow what?" Toph asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing."

She shrugged and handed me two quarters. "What are these for?" I stared down at the silver coin.

"You new locker." Toph answered as she pulled a key from her bra. "You insert two quarters, open it, take out the key that's inside, close it, and that's your deal." She opened her locker and began to empty her bag's contents into it. "It makes things easier; so you don't have to lug a bag around all the time. You keep your stuff in here and use your key to open it every time you come back. If you loose the key, your screwed."

I nodded and followed her simple steps; adding the quarters, opening the small door, taking the small copper key, unloading my stuff into it, and closing it back. I mimicked Toph and slid the key slightly between two of the peeping holes in the locker.

Silently we stripped down to our bra and underwear and wrapped ourselves in the towels they had folded on the benches for us.

"Now let's hit the showers." She signaled me to follow her.

The showers at the rink were basically like the ones you would find in a community pool. Tiles on the floor, drains in the tiles, curtained off sections for showers, ect. There was steam everywhere, and all the showers seemed to be running. On the wall beside each curtained-ff area, there were built in shelves; one for the towel, one for your clothes, and the last for any extra thing you might need (Complementary soap, shampoo, and so on). Toph put her clothes on one shelf, her towel on the other, and then began to strip down to bareness. I turned away and tried to do the same, but for some reason I just felt my face going red.

Quietly I slipped behind one of the curtains and turned the shower on. The hot water on my skin felt so good after the cold of the ice. I let my hair out from its braid and let it cascade down my back. I thought I'd use one of those shampoos, so I reached my arms out of the curtained area to the shelves and felt around for it. Once I retrieved what I was looking for, I pulled my arm back in and twisted open the cap. Immediately the scent of oranges and mangos filled the shower. _"Smells good!" _I concluded.

Once I lathered, rinsed, and repeated several times, I felt ready to go. I turned off the showers, dried my hair, and wrapped the towel around me. After dressing and leaving the showers I stepped into the locker room. Azula and On Ji were retrieving their cellphones from their lockers, and Toph was bent over tying her shoes.

"Katara! There you are!" Azula turned to me. "Nice Charlotte!" And then she walked away, laughing along with On Ji.

"Ignore them," Toph stood straight. "They're jealous."

"Of me?" I asked while pulling my key from it's hiding place and unlocking the door.

Toph rolled her eyes. "No, Katara, not you."

I nodded in realization of the fact that she was being sarcastic. Who would be jealous of me? I pulled out my sneakers and headband. After tying the laces and putting my headband in place, I was ready to go.

"Got any brothers or sisters?" Toph asked as we headed out.

"One brother… his name's Sokka, he's sixteen." I answered. We stopped at the snack bar as Mai was finishing up.

"My shift's over," She said, putting a dry rag in a trash bin. "Anywhere for us to go?"

"We could catch a bite to eat." I suggested.

Mai climbed over the counter and walked with me and Toph to the door. "Good idea," she agreed. "I'm hungry."

Toph shook her head. "If I was working the snack bar, there would be no snacks left in the bar."

"I'm trying to keep a job, here." Mai pointed out. Toph and I nodded in recognition.

Mai turned to me. "So what school are you going to this year, Katara?"

"Um, Sozin High," I answered, hazily remembering the name of the school my dad had signed me up for.

"So's Azula, Tylee, On Ji, and I." Mai gave a hint of a smile.

"What about you?" I asked Toph.

"Home schooled." Toph said. "Parents are _way_ protective because of the blind thing." She ended the sentence by waving her hand in front of her face, emphasizing the fact that her eyes showed no suggestion that they say anything.

As we walked out the doors of Twin Oak ice rink, I turned to glance at Mai. I swore I had seen her somewhere before. "Do you skate?" I asked her.

"Nah," She shook her head. "Never got off too well with it."

I shrugged inside of my head. Maybe Mai was one of those people with familiar faces. Who knows, anyway?

"How do we get there?" I asked, looking side-to-side. Outside in the rush of the city there was no apparent car to give us a ride.

"Man, you _are_ new, huh?" Toph shouted over the bustling noises of New York. We walked to the corner in the nice, post-summer weather. Toph put her fingers to her mouth and gave an ear-splitting whistle. I covered my ears as it pierced the air. Immediately a taxi cab pulled up hot on our toes. We had to take a few steps back for fear that it would come up on the curb. We opened the doors and jammed ourselves in together. I gave Toph my twenty-dollar-bill and Mai handed a twenty also.

"Take us to the closest restaurant you can with sixty bucks." Toph said to the driver, handing him our money plus hers. "_Don't_ keep the change."

He nodded and we careened with a screeching noise back into the street, this mad us all lurch forward.

"I might loose my lunch before we get it." Mai commented.

I couldn't help but agree as we sped toward our unnamed destination.

* * *

**A/N: YAY! Second chapter after so long. Sorry for the wait. Review, please.**

**~Rosey ;-**


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